If you are a photographer or have ever attempted to be one, you would know that the most dreadful part of photography is not taking the photo itself but the editing that comes after. However, most people do not realize that there is a way to minimize the need for that effort. And how is that? By using DIY photography hacks, of course! In this article, we will be discussing our top 10 DIY photography techniques. But first, let’s define what DIY photography is.
What is DIY Photography?
DIY photography refers to the hacks and techniques you can use to make your photography experience cheaper, or to offer your photography service at relatively lower prices. These are fun ways to cut costs by being creative with your photography skills, and grow your photography career by impressing your clients.
Just like any other DIY, you need to be really into the art of photography to make these hacks work for you. Read through the ideas we have for you in this post, and see if you can implement them with ease. We have categorized our DIY photography hacks into a few simple ideas and a few smarter or more advanced techniques.
Some Simple Ideas
Here are 5 out of 10 of our simple DIY photography tips.
1. The Bokeh Effect
If you don’t already know, the bokeh effect is the blurring of the picture's background to make the main object more prominent and increase the aesthetic value of the image. People mostly add this effect with photo editing software, but little do they know that it can also be a simple DIY photography method. All you need to do is get a strainer or some tin foil. These will serve as your DIY photography equipments. The strainer must be in front of your camera lens, and if using foil, it must be behind the subject of your image. All you need to do then is click the picture!
2. Soft Focus Filters
You might be wondering how soft focus filters can be created with the help of DIY photography techniques because they are purely computer software-based. We’d like you to know that it is straightforward. All you need is some old pantyhose that you probably already have lying around. Cut it up to fit the top of your camera lens, and you are good to go. Use different colors of pantyhose to get different soft focus filter color palette results for your DIY photography.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Reflective Paper
Sometimes, it gets tough to prove your skills as a professional photographer when you cannot find a clear enough background. One of the most straightforward solutions to this issue in our guide to DIY photography is to always keep some reflective paper handy. Place it behind your subject or product and get DIY photography results that make it seem like all left in the world is the object in your picture.
4. The Lightbox
If you have similar needs required as those mentioned above, the DIY photography lightbox can also come to your rescue. Find any cardboard box lying around and line it up with sheets of plain paper of the appropriate size. Make sure to leave one side of the box open for access. Place your object inside and get the clearest of backgrounds within mere minutes!
5. Shoot Through Props
This is one of those DIY photography tips that will surely take your DIY photography to the very next level. Just use anything available, whether it be a plastic bag, a piece of newspaper, or even a garden pot, and angle your camera through the space between the object in a way that your subject can be seen to whatever extent you please. There is no doubt that you will be surprised by the pristine results of this simplistic method. Some more props you could use include:
- A peephole
- A short tube
- Broken glass
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Some More Hacks
Here are the remaining 5 hacks. These are a little bit more advanced than the tips discussed above.
6. Soft Focus
Getting soft focus with an original lens is almost impossible, and editing it later takes too much time and effort for it to be worth it. But guess what? We have the perfect hack in this guide to DIY photography for you. You will have to get some plastic sheets and use the trial and error method to crunch them up in different ways before placing them in front of your camera lens. After a few tries, you are bound to get the perfect shot with this DIY photography method.
7. Fairy Lights
The thing about using fairy lights as a DIY photography hacks is that it is probably the simplest yet most complicated way to get just the right picture. The hack simply goes as ‘use fairy lights’, and the rest of it needs to be figured out on the spot according to your available shooting spot, lighting, and other factors like the background. But when you do get the perfect shot, the results are phenomenal and well worth it.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
8. Reflecting With Your Phone
This is one of the DIY photography tips that allows you to avoid the dirty and aesthetically unpleasing ground when taking pictures. Place your phone with the camera open right under your camera at a perpendicular angle. The camera lens will reflect the phone lens and make the ground seem like a crystal clear reflection. It might take some time to adjust this setup to get optimum results. But once you do, you will definitely be thrilled with the pictures you will be able to capture.
9. Free Lensing
This particular method is one of those DIY photography techniques that are quite complicated for someone who has never attempted to use it before. However, once mastered after a few practice times, the results will not disappoint you. It seems a little risky but, trust us, it is not! You need to take your camera's lens off its mount and hold it in place in front of your camera. Start taking a few shots to tell if the angle needs to be adjusted. This DIY photography act will make your pictures come out much more professional than they otherwise would.
10. Tree and Plant Backgrounds
Now, we could not close off a DIY photography related blog post without talking about trees and plants, could we? Perhaps deemed the most mainstream way to click an ‘aesthetic’ shot, it still never gets old in the world of DIY photography. The new thing you will learn about DIY photography from this guide to DIY photography is that you need to focus your lens while being very close to the person or object behind which you have a leafy background. Even if your camera tells you to move further away, you need to be persistent and make sure to focus from up close to get the best results.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Showcase Your DIY Photography
Now that you have read our guide to DIY photography, you wouldn’t want to waste your DIY talent by keeping it to yourself. Once you have a substantial number of photographs taken using these tips, you can show them to the world by displaying them on a website or landing page. The website will serve as your online resume for anyone interested in hiring a photographer.
Showcase your photographs on a website in the form of an online gallery or portfolio. When people view them, they will give feedback and reviews. That way you will learn what kind of photos they like more. This can be good for your photography career. You might need to work on your website’s SEO a little bit, though. But that’s not the challenging part about it. The hardest part is to get your website up and running in the first place.
Image taken from Strikingly
If you wonder how to create a website, hop on to Strikingly. Strikingly is a website builder that allows you to build a website with minimum effort and cost on your part. All you need to do is create an account by signing up and selecting one of our user-friendly and responsive website templates. Once you are in your Strikingly editor, it is pretty much just a typing and drag-and-drop activity to add content to your site.
You can add as many images as you want to your Strikingly website. Create a gallery that will be the online portfolio of your DIY photography talent. Share your website URL with everyone in your personal and professional network. Have fun being more creative and uploading more photographers, and see how your photography career grows.
Individuals and organizations that use Strikingly as their trusted website building platform have the ease of not worrying about any technical or coding issues regarding their site. We take care of the technical stuff to maintain your focus on growing your profession and business.
